Extracts from speeches and writings of Scholars on Islamic Spirituality and Purification of the Soul!

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Concealing other's Faults & Privately Correcting them:

من ستر مسلما ستره الله في الدنيا والآخرة

On the authority of Abu Hurayrah (RA), that the Prophet ﺻﻠﯽ الله ﺗﻌﺎﻟﯽٰ ﻋﻠﯿﮧ ﻭﺍٓﻟﮧ ﻭﺳﻠﻢ said: Whoever shields [or hides the misdeeds of] a Muslim, Allah will shield him in this world and the Hereafter."

[Sahih Muslim, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah & Musnad Ahmad]

Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said: "He who sees something which should be kept hidden and conceals it will be like the one who has brought to life a girl buried alive (a pre-Islamic practice). - Sunan of Abu-Dawud, Hadith 2292

Narrated Abu Barzah al-Aslami رضي الله ﺗﻌﺎﻟﯽٰ عنه : The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: O community of people who believed by their tongue and belief did not enter their hearts, do not back-bite Muslims, and do not search for their faults, for if anyone searches for their faults, Allah will search for his fault, and if Allah searches for the fault of anyone, He disgraces him in his own house. -Sunan of Abu Dawud, Number 2283 (Tirmidhi also reported a similar Hadith)

Ibn 'Abbas رضي الله ﺗﻌﺎﻟﯽٰ عنه said on the verse of the Qur'an, "Nor defame one another" (49:11), "Do not spend your time finding fault with one another." (Imam Bukhari's Book of Manners #330)

Imam Ibn Al-Mubarak رحمه الله said:

“Whenever a man would see something from his brother that he dislikes, he would give him orders in private and forbid him in private. So, he would be rewarded for screening his brother and also rewarded for forbidding evil. As for today, whenever a man sees what he dislikes, he angers his brother and unveils his screen.” [Raudatul ‘Uqala, p. 197]

We should not be like the kuffar who dig up faults of their opponents.

We should not behave like the tabloid reporters!

This type of behaviour is very detrimental to the Muslim unity yet it is very rife-because we hate one another.-because we have different aqeeda or belong to different Jamaat.

-we want to show that we are better than others.

Exceptions:

If the act committed was against the rights of a person, or poses a threat or harm to others or was committed openly with no shame, then there is no concealment and the action should be dealt with appropriately.